Empower - Your ride, your way 4+

Price Jump and Unprofessional Drivers

This app was fine at first, but the price jumping is terrible now. I requested a ride that was $7 at first and then out of know where the ride jumped to $15. This is completely unprofessional and that money coming off my card without my consist is the issue. At least with Uber and Lyft, which has been extremely expensive lately, they tell the prices from the beginning. I am contemplating not using this app anymore due to the dishonesty and issues I am having with it.
Also, THE DRIVERS FOR THIS APP ARE HORRIBLE! They speed and when I try to get in contact with the officials of Empower I can’t get in contact or I never receive a response. On multiple occasions I have been in jeopardy of being involved in an accident. I was scared out of my mind and the situations get worse and worse. This is the biggest reasons why I am contemplating of not continuing my service with them and warning others.

DO NOT USE

These people are ridiculous! I’ve been using empower for a while, and then one day when I try to book a ride, they randomly tell me my account has been locked due to fraudulent activity. I review my rides and see they are all accurate, no fraud. I email them telling them my rides are correct and there is no fraud and they say “ Your account has been locked due to suspected fraudulent transaction activity and is subject to deactivation. Please note, Empower reserves the right to take steps necessary to reverse or undo the impact of any fraudulent transactions. If you wish to provide any information, please do so by responding to this email.” I respond telling them there isn’t any fraudulent activity and the rides are correct, so I have no information to provide. They then respond saying “ Unfortunately, we can only advise that we are unable to unlock your account at this time. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.” I keep asking why and they won’t give me any information at all, just telling me they can’t unlock my account and can’t provide any further information at this tune. It’s extremely frustrating because I’ve used them often, and I keep telling them my rides were all accurate!! It’s not like a filed a dispute with my credit card company or something. They just locked me out and won’t let me create a new account for no reason!!

Unsafe / Stay Away

My 7 year old daughter and I were picked up around 10:41P on March 11 to be dropped off at the Ritz Carlton-Pentagon City in VA. When the driver was on his way I noticed in the Empower app he wasn’t following the suggested route on the map. We met him outside with luggage and he agreed to let me use his trunk. My daughter hopped in the vehicle as the driver popped the trunk from the drivers seat and I started to walk to the back of the vehicle with the suitcases but he forgot to put the car in park so the vehicle started to roll back. He hopped back in the suburban and slammed on the brakes then shifted gears. My daughter was frightened and I was in shock. We finally are on our way and he again is not taking the suggested route on the map. His music is way too loud and he’s joking with my daughter that he’s going to to take her home with him. We get to the Ritz Hotel and he’s taking the luggage out. He hands me the large suitcase and he was about to hand over the mini suitcase to my daughter but hesitates and asks her, “I thought you were coming home with me. You aren’t coming home with me?” So I go to grab the suitcase from him and he actually has a slight grip on the handle but he sees my intent and finally let’s go saying, “Have a good night” and leaves. I emailed Empower twice and tried to call but have not heard back. The safety of their customers doesn’t seem to be a priority! Stay away!

Developer Response ,

We reached out to this rider and the driver and are investigating this matter seriously. We take safety seriously. That's why riders have the ability to request they be matched with only their favorite drivers. Riders can also request to be matched only with a driver of the same gender.

Sincerely,
Team Empower